Posts with the tag: LDS Environment

Open houses are a fantastic way to get a taste of what Southern Virginia University has to offer. Students can start their day with a rad breakfast buffet (those blueberry scones. Seriously.) and proceed to get to know some professors in mini classes, explore campus on student-guided tours, eat lunch in our dining hall, and glimpse what it’s like to be a student here at Southern Virginia. Those who are interested can also schedule meetings with coaches, auditions with those heading arts programs, and other such opportunities.

You’d really be hard-pressed to find a better way to acquaint yourself with this university, especially when you take into consideration the $200 travel voucher provided to prospective students. For more information about upcoming open houses and how you can find yourself at one, check out the open house page.

You can also read more about previous open house experiences in other blog posts, like this one and this one.

Al Fox Carraway, LDS speaker and author of “More than the Tattooed Mormon,” addressed the Southern Virginia University student body at the 2016 Honor Forum on Jan. 29. If you missed the speech, check out the video below!

Thomas S. Monson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has entreated young adults to “make institute a priority,” a goal our incredible Institute program intends to make possible for us. Earlier this month they kicked off the new semester with a fantastic social that brought students, as well as the Institute Council and faculty together through interactive games, upbeat music and my personal favorite, chips and salsa.

Of the many games that were played, my favorite was a brain teaser that involved being intricately twisted up with yarn handcuffs to a partner and left alone to untangle ourselves. It took a lot of maneuvering, perhaps one too many dramatic leaps and turns, and a lot of laughing before Nate Dransfield and I finally figured it out, but the gloating that followed afterward made it all worth it. Other games, such as scripture charades and a variation of Hedbanz were enjoyed by those in attendance. And some silly interpretive dancing around the Stoddard Center may or may not have broken out as the new stereo system blared some groovy tunes. Either way, it was a very fun night and just what I needed to end a crazy, busy first week back.

So kudos to the Institute Council for putting on such a fun activity in honor of the prophet’s call. As someone who has attended institute regularly I add my conviction to that of President Monson’s, who said: “Think of it. Friends will be made, the Spirit will be felt, and faith will be strengthened. I promise you that as you participate in institute and study the scriptures diligently, your power to avoid temptation and to receive direction of the Holy Ghost in all you do will be increased. Divine favor will attend those who humbly seek it. That is a promise which I leave with you.”

At the beginning of this school year, my roommates and I posed for a “first day of school photo” — just like I did with my little brother for the first seventeen years of my life. Except this time, I posed with the somewhat-goofily written “It’s the beginning of the end.”

I’m a senior, which means that last week marked my “last first day of school” (at least for the foreseeable future). By this point in life, most of us have experienced enough “lasts” to realize that they induce a bit of a nostalgic, or at least reflective, haze. I’ve gone from class to work to rehearsals every day for the last week, but it’s been with the uncanny awareness that this is the last time my whole life will shift the second week of January, it’s the last time I’ll ever go from class to work to rehearsal, and it’s the last time I’ll experience a semester at Southern Virginia University.

And of course, partially due to my ingrained tendency toward sentimentality, the nostalgia hit. And it hit hard. I took special notice of all the things I know I’ll miss about the Southern Virginia experience. I love that:

I go to a university so focused on the “genius of small” that my British literature class of 27 students is large enough to make me do a double-take when I walk into the classroom.

I pass professors every day on campus who call out to me by name and share inside jokes.

An on-campus job means that essentially my entire life takes place on this quaint campus of ours.

I can walk from any classroom to another in less than ten minutes.

I can’t go anywhere on campus and not find someone I know by name and who knows mine.

We’re surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are so enchanting that they somehow still maintain some pastoral beauty in January when most of their foliage is dead.

I can see a church steeple from my office window.

I can walk into any class during my first week of school and feel like I’m surrounded by people who really know me, professors included.

I know that I have received just the education I wanted. I learned not only what I needed to know, but what I wanted to know.

Southern Virginia really has captured the genius of small, but it’s also captured the beauty of history, the virtue of the liberal arts, the importance of individuals, and the power of connections. As this semester starts, and I’m sure I’ll feel this just as strongly as it comes to a close in May, I feel all the more certain that I made the right choice three years ago to leap across the country and choose Southern Virginia as the map for my college adventure.

Professors Monthly is a new monthly column on the official Southern Virginia University blog. Each month’s guest post will be provided by a Southern Virginia professor on a topic of their choice. This month, instead of the usual routine, we’ve asked a handful of them to share a Christmas memory or tradition.

Matthew Georgeson, assistant professor of theatre:

Every evening in December, we read verses that tell the story of Christ starting with prophecies of Him in the Old Testament. We then read of His birth, ministry and Atonement. With each short verse, we have a picture and tell the simple story. My favorite is the one that we read on Christmas morning before we open presents. We read D&C 76:22-24 and each share our testimonies of Christ and tell that even though we have some nice presents, the best gift was from Heavenly Father and Jesus. They gave us the chance to live happy together forever with Them. It has been a wonderful way to start the day.

Richard Gardner, associate professor of biology:

Every Christmas Eve as I was growing up, my dad used to read us “Mrs. Goose’s Wild Christmas,” but we knew it better as “Three Ducks.” It is a silly kids story about tame goose and her wild cousin and their Christmas. On my mission, I got a package before Christmas, including an audio tape, and I put it in our tape player, and I was surprised to hear my dad reading “Three Ducks.” I had to explain the tradition to my companion. My father-in-law used to read my wife and her siblings “Wee Woofsky,” another animal Christmas story (about a baby bear that gets lost, but Santa brings him back to his parents on Christmas). Now, each Christmas Eve, I read “Three Ducks” to our kids, and my wife reads “Wee Woofsky” to them (along with Luke 2). We’ll be sending our missionary son emailed MP3s of us reading these stories.

Jane Harrington, adjunct instructor of English:

My family honors Jewish and Christian traditions, so our winter holiday is especially rich. Now that we have to travel far distances to get together, we focus more on food than gift-giving. Freshly baked breads and latkes are longtime favorites, but as we’ll be in Louisiana this year, there will surely be some jambalaya on the table. Can’t wait!